Evaluation of the Use and Performance of Via to Transit in the Puget Sound Region

 by Mark Hallenbeck, Alex Van Roijen, Ryan Avery, and Dmitri Zyuzin Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC)

Washington State Transportation Center (TRAC)

University of Washington, Box 359446 Seattle, Washington 98195-9446 Prepared for

Sound Transit King County Metro Transit October 2020

 

ii

Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ V

 

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 1

 Project Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 Report Introduction.................................................................................................................. 1 Description of the Via To Transit Service ............................................................................... 2 Paying for a Via to Transit trip ................................................................................................ 5 Accessibility ............................................................................................................................ 7

CHAPTER 2: EVALUATION OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................ 8

 Evaluation Goals...................................................................................................................... 8 Data Used in the Evaluation .................................................................................................... 9

CHAPTER 3: EVALUATION RESULTS .............................................................................................................. 12

 Use of Via .............................................................................................................................. 12 Basic Ridership Trends .......................................................................................................... 12 Via Use by Time of Day ........................................................................................................ 17 Wheelchair Travel ................................................................................................................. 19 Frequency of Via Use ............................................................................................................ 21 Rider Characteristics .............................................................................................................. 22 Via Use By Type of Rider ..................................................................................................... 22 Via Rider Survey Data ........................................................................................................... 27 Via Performance .................................................................................................................... 41 Overall Use of Link Rail and Bus Transit ............................................................................. 45 Link Ridership Changes ........................................................................................................ 46 Bus Ridership Changes .......................................................................................................... 53 Changes in the Transit Trip Making Behavior of Via Users ................................................. 58 Link Boardings in the Service Area ...................................................................................... 60 Transfer to Link from Bus Within the Service Area ............................................................. 61

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................... 63

 

APPENDIX: MODELING USE OF VIA ................................................................................................................ 65

 Model Data ............................................................................................................................ 65 Initial Data Exploration ......................................................................................................... 68 Model Development .............................................................................................................. 72 Census Block Groups Removed From Analysis ................................................................... 82

 

iii

List of Figures

Figure 1. Seattle Service Areas ....................................................................................................... 3 Figure 2. Tukwila Service Area ...................................................................................................... 4 Figure 3. Daily Via Ridership ....................................................................................................... 13 Figure 4. Average Number of Via Rides per Weekday by Station and Month ............................ 13 Figure 5. Geographic Distribution of Via Trips: Total Trips by Census Block Group ................ 15 Figure 6. Geographic Distribution of Via Trips: Total Trips per Resident by Census Block Group ............................................................................................................. 16 Figure 7. Time of Day Distribution of Trips Using Via ............................................................... 17 Figure 8. Time of Day Distribution of Trips Using Via for Weekdays versus Weekends ........... 18 Figure 9. Weekday Average Hourly Via Ridership (June - Feb) ................................................. 19 Figure 10. Weekly Wheelchair Rides Completed during the Pilot Project .................................. 20 Figure 11. Percentage of Othello Station Via Trips Made by Youth by Month ........................... 25 Figure 12. Youth Trip Making at Othello Station by Time of Day, Summer Months versus When School Was in Session ............................................................................................... 26 Figure 13. Comparison of the Frequency of Via Use, Via Rider Survey Versus Completed Reservations ....................................................................................................... 27 Figure 14. Income Distribution by Ethnicity from Via Rider Survey Responses ........................ 36 Figure 15. Frequency Distribution of Via Trip Distances ............................................................ 43 Figure 16. Illustration of Mean Travel Time Savings by Location .............................................. 44 Figure 17. Comparison of Daily Systemwide Link Boardings with ORCA 2019 versus 2020 ... 48 Figure 18. Changes in Total ORCA Trip Making from Winter to Summer ................................. 59 Figure 19. Change in Total Link Boardings from Winter to Summer .......................................... 61 Figure 20. Changes in Transfer Activity from Bus to Rail at the Pilot Link Stations .................. 62 Figure 21: Total Trips Taken Per Block Group Population Versus Mean Time Savings ............ 68 Figure 22: Total Trips Taken per Block Group Population versus Median Household Income .. 69 Figure 23: Comparison of Median Household Income and Daily Trip Making: Log-Linear Relationship ....................................................................................................... 70 Figure 24: Daily Trips Taken versus Mean Daily Time Savings ................................................. 71 Figure 25: Daily Trips Taken versus Mean Via Trip Distance ..................................................... 72 Figure 26: Modeled Mean Daily Trips by Census Block Group versus Actual Mean Trip Making .................................................................................................... 73 Figure 27: Daily Trip Predictions versus Actual Daily Trip Making ........................................... 74 Figure 28: Regression Model Forecasts versus Actual Trip Making ........................................... 75 Figure 29: Neural Network Model Forecasts versus Actual Trip Making ................................... 76 Figure 30: Xgboost Model Forecasts versus Actual Trip Making ................................................ 76 Figure 31: Link Station Summary of Model Prediction Accuracy ............................................... 79